The Lazarus Effect

The Lazarus Effect is a 2010 documentary film about the positive impact of free antiretroviral drug therapy on HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. It was directed by Lance Bangs, and executive produced by Spike Jonze, after an organizer from AIDS awareness group Red suggested the project to them. The film features patients and medical staff in Zambia speaking about their experiences and was produced by Red and HBO. It was screened on HBO and Channel 4 in May 2010, and it is also available on YouTube. Synopsis Made in Zambia, the 30-minute film tracks several people who were seriously ill but return to a healthier condition in a relatively short period of time after starting free antiretroviral drug therapy. HIV-positive patients and medical staff recount their experiences and the impact medication has made on their lives in their own words. They include Constance Mudenda, a mother whose children all died of AIDS, and who now works as a peer education supervisor at an AIDS clinic; Paul Nsangu, a young husband and father; Bwalya, an 11-year-old girl who at the beginning of the film looks like a child half her age, because of her disease; and Concillia Muhau, a young mother who recovered from the brink of death, and now also works as a peer counselor. Interviewees describe their illness and recovery; they also speak about the difficulties involved in persuading people to have themselves tested for HIV, given the severe social stigma that results from a positive test result, and in getting word about the available treatment out to remote rural areas, as well as the logistical problems of providing care to patients who may have to walk for four days and three nights to reach a clinic.